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9.01.2012

I would not have ye ignorant brethren.

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Everyone says that she was funny. In and our of sermons. They note that she did not tell jokes, per se, but that she observed the real world in a way to highlight the ridiculous.

She was a wit, and had a lot of stock quips. When asked how she was, she was prone to say, “I feel more like I do now, then did at I first.” Chuckling as people tried to parse that out.

My favorite was quoted to me by several sources. When the old question came up about why she didn't have a husband, she took to quoting 1 Corintians 12:1.  The King James makes it "I would not have ye ignorant, brethren..." Charlotte  left the comma out,and would point out that in the original, punctuation is supplied by context. Some contexts clearly called for her translation.

Charlotte not only could dish it she apparently could take it.

I had two sources for the following story.

At an Alumni Banquet, Charlotte was honored as alumni of the year. The following joke was told - who told it is apparently not remembered.

"So when Charlotte was back at Asbury in Kentucky, she decided to take in the Kentucky Derby, though horse racing is usually against a Quaker conscience.  She was down by the paddock and bent over to tie her shoe.  Someone mistook her for a horse and threw a saddle on her back {laughter} oh, but that's not the end of the story. Charlotte won the derby by a nose!

It was reported that Charlotte thought this was hilarious and often repeated it herself. She loved the punch line.  They laugh at you - and then you win.

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Comments:
From Howard Macy - son of Hazel and Mahlon - transferred from FB

Ignorant brethren is one of my favorite memories of Charlotte. She used self-effacing humor in her humor kit. I remember once bragging on/kidding about my mom's compulsion to clean, keeping things so clean that you could eat off of her floor. Charlotte quickly quipped, "Well, you can eat off of my floor – crackers, popcorn, Cheerios…" I can't be in the Lighthouse at Harbor Villa without remembering that moment.
 
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